-LRB- EW.com -RRB- -- Shad Gregory Moss has n't gone by the name Lil ' Bow Wow for some time now . But if you squint hard enough and try to ignore the barrage of broad African-American stereotypes in his latest film , `` Lottery Ticket , '' it 's easy to see that the former pint-size Snoop Dog protégé has grown into a likable leading man .

In this frenetic , family-friendly riff on the Friday formula , Bow Wow plays Kevin , an honest , hard-working high school grad who lives in an Atlanta housing project and punches the clock selling Air Jordans at the local Foot Locker . That is , until he realizes he 's holding the winning ticket in a $ 370 million lottery .

After his loose-lipped , Bible-thumping grandma -LRB- Waiting to Exhale 's Loretta Devine -RRB- spills the beans about his imminent payday , a flood of characters -LRB- or , to be more accurate , caricatures -RRB- cozy up to him to get their cut .

Gangsters , gospel preachers , gold diggers -- Kevin sees through their greed and ulterior motives . But not before going on a wild spending spree that would make Pretty Woman proud .

The problem is , music video director Erik White 's blue-collar fantasy wants to have it both ways : For every well-intentioned speech Kevin gives about the lottery being a rigged game designed to keep poor folks down , there 's a montage of him giddily blowing wads of cash on sneakers and sports cars .

If `` Lottery Ticket '' had as much conviction as laughs , it could have hit the jackpot .

EW Grade : B -

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Shad Gregory Moss , formerly known as Lil ' Bow Wow , has grown into a likable lead

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For every well-intentioned speech , it shows a montagge of him blowing wads of cash

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If `` Lottery Ticket '' had as much conviction as laughs , it could have hit the jackpot